Comments for Winter Session 2012 Media Criticism – NYUhttps://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com
Class blogSun, 22 Jan 2012 06:17:24 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/Comment on “How to be a fan of problematic things” – because pretty much everything is, but is sometimes still awesome by Alyssahttps://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/how-to-be-a-fan-of-problematic-things-because-pretty-much-everything-is-but-is-sometimes-still-awesome/#comment-101
Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:17:24 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1474#comment-101I love this! My only complaint about this class has been that it made me feel like a horrible racist, homophobic, elitist bitch for being a fan of a lot of the media we have critiqued. I agree it’s ok to like these shows and movies, as long as we are aware of the problems and acknowledge them without making excuses (which I admit, I have). I really like her point about being respectful of people who choose not to support the media they find problematic. Television shows, at least, have the potential to improve with each season so vocalizing grievances could really make a difference in improving depictions of stereotypes.
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Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:08:06 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1474#comment-100i’m having an issue with usernames and can’t put this in a new post but i wanted to share it, too! it’s sort of on the opposite spectrum of discussions of marginalization but it’s AMAZING. it’s an hour long video of a woman who teaches college students what it’s like to be part of a marginalized culture, particularly one associated with race. definitely worth a view

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Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:18:17 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/washing-machine-ad/#comment-99What strikes me about this ad is that while it promotes a technological evolution, it depicts an ideology about gender roles that has not changed in over a hundred years. They could have simply shown the washing machines and how they have become more advanced, yet they chose to include a woman standing with each one. This shows how blatantly advertisements can present dominant ideologies of society, and how little they change over time.
]]>Comment on A little bit about Israel by Victor L.https://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/a-little-bit-about-israel/#comment-98
Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:33:08 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1194#comment-98Critically reading your first paragraph, it almost appears as if you’re saying that you want news networks to dedicate more air-time to terrorist attacks. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing, though that may depend on what you believe the role of institutional journalism to be. When people think of journalism’s most lauded works (exposing Watergate, Abu Ghraib, etc.), the role of journalism has always been to keep a check on the actions of other major institutional actors with power — namely government and business. At least that’s the ideal role of journalism — the news is admittedly inundated with stories that generate fear and hype, about crime, terror from abroad, and the next viral pandemic. While news corporations may be incentivized by profit to scare people with stories about crimes and plagues, the job of journalists, I hope, is still to keep an eye on the actions of government and business — the institutions which hold power in society. And debates regarding the purpose and effects of the Israeli government’s wall aside, it’s evident that the Israeli government, in any situation regarding the Palestinian territories, is the institution of power and authority — politically, economically, and militarily.

Though, I have to ask, what exactly do you mean by “showing the humanizing aspect” of “both sides”? What does “showing the humanizing aspect” of the Israeli government entail? What are the “both sides”? Because I think Israelis themselves as people are already humanized, in that in our media they are considerably less marked than Arabs are.

I also want to clarify that I’m not asserting in any of my comments a political judgment or analysis of Israel’s policies; I don’t think I know enough about foreign affairs in the Middle East to comment on policy there. While I may have a critical perspective towards the wall, I’m not trying to comment on political positions. Instead, I’m relegating my comments to questions about media and representation.

]]>Comment on A little bit about Israel by matanofrihttps://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/a-little-bit-about-israel/#comment-97
Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:09:43 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1194#comment-97my point with posting this video was to inform of what the news networks, especially CNN is forgetting, or selecting not to show. specifically the part about the healthcare and charitable organization that help and benefit the Palestinians. A common media strategy is “if it bleeds it leads”, showing the bloody side of the conflict from both sides. But you don’t see them showing the humanizing aspect, again of both sides.

And in regards to the wall in the Palestinian “state”, I really don’t want to get all political, especially due to the fact that its hard for me to distance myself from the topic and be objective, but from a person who was there and saw the wall, its merely a precaution that has been built after a series of debates within the Israeli government and with other nations, especially the US, and is serving a clear purpose. that purpose is negotiable depending on what side of it you are standing.

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Sat, 21 Jan 2012 02:10:45 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1194#comment-96This may be “educational,” but I’m worried about what sort of education is being dispensed. The narrator in the video is speaking to the viewer from the perspective that the viewer is boycotting Israel, and is very sarcastic. Throughout the video, the narrator implies that any person who wants to boycott Israel is likely to be an Arab, a terrorist, holding stereotypes against Jews, ignorant (or dismissive) of Jewish accomplishments and kind Jews, or demonizing of Jews. The narrator generalizes all people opposing Israeli policies through boycott to be in some form extremist, and that’s a questionable message to send to anyone.

So I’m not sure what this video is achieving, other than further antagonizing the already tense divides in opinion on Israel’s policies with the Palestinian state. What is a viewer that is supportive of Israeli policies supposed to take away from this video, other than a sense of justification in dismissing people who disagree with them? What is a viewer that is unsupportive of Israeli policies supposed to take away from this video, other than feelings of being insulted and dismissed?

The controversy about Israel’s wall in the Palestinian state ( http://youtu.be/clbpyNePW5k ) is a very serious issue, and I question whether or not people involved in the debate should be satirizing and demonizing one another.

]]>Comment on Child raised without Gender by mikececchinihttps://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/child-raised-without-gender/#comment-95
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:31:53 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1196#comment-95and just to help illustrate that I’m not trying to be Archie Bunker, I came across this blog:http://www.raisingmyrainbow.com

A mom who is letting her 5 year old boy play with and wear what he chooses/feels right for him. She’s still building a platform, encouraging people to reach out to her and share their experiences, and she’s unconditionally supporting a child who isn’t gender conforming. And she’s doing it without fanfare or publicity. I think she makes a much stronger point than the other folks. Maybe when “CJ” is a little older, he’ll tell his Mom to go public with everything. But THAT should be his choice, too.

]]>Comment on Child raised without Gender by mikececchinihttps://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/child-raised-without-gender/#comment-94
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:57:44 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1196#comment-94y’know, I really don’t want to be “that guy”, especially because I fear where it’s gonna put me on the spectrum of other people that disagree with this, but this kinda bugs me. I think children should be able to wear what they want and play with what they want and who they want, and not have to be these paragons of masculinity or femininity. And in general, I absolutely believe they should be allowed to date, sleep with, and marry whoever they want, and nobody’s should be able to stop them or make them feel bad about it. But, anytime this story has come up, I have a really unpleasant gut reaction to these parents.

“I don’t think I’d do it if I thought it was going to make him unhappy, but at the moment he’s not really bothered either way. We haven’t had any difficult scenarios yet.” Yeah? Wait til he’s 10. Or 12. Or 14. I assure you, you’ll have plenty of “difficult scenarios”.

Children are cruel. The world is crueler. Using your child as your own little sociology experiment isn’t admirable. You want to illustrate to people the futility/stupidity of gender roles? By all means, do it. Publish a paper. Don’t play with the fate of your child and put him in the spotlight, especially in a world where everyone is under a microscope. Or if you do, do it after the fact, when the child is old enough to understand the choices that have been made, the potential consequences of those choices, and then gives you permission to go public with your findings.

It’d be one thing if they were simply raising a child, and, as the child starts expressing himself or herself, they find that this child is making choices counter to “traditional” choices associated with that gender, and rather than discouraging these choices, they encourage them. But to make your kid your very public “cause”, and a visible target, especially when there are parents of disabled children who need the spotlight far more, really doesn’t sit right with me. In other words, my problem has less to do with what they’re doing, and more with how they’re doing it.

I hope I’m wrong. I hope this child has the patience of Gandhi, and that his future classmates are made of better stuff than most of the lunkheads that I grew up with. I hope that in ten years I’m reading about this kid because he’s become this incredible leader and spokesperson for any number of issues, and not because he marched into his school with a gun.

(NOTE: I glanced at the comments on that article, which is ALWAYS a mistake, and I realize I sound like every bigoted idiot troll who complains on every Yahoo story. I apologize.)

]]>Comment on Eguchi Aimi by Alyssahttps://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/eguchi-aimi/#comment-93
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:50:38 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1185#comment-93I can’t help but find this a little creepy. With Hatsune Miku it’s at least apparent that she’s not a real person, but Eguchi Aimi blurs the line between cartoon and reality. Postmodernism might want to explore the fact that being digitally generated can constitute an existence, but these characters cease to exist when the computer projecting them is turned off. Lady Gaga, for example, is almost as famous for her style and personality as for her music. I don’t think the fandom of these computer generated pop stars can be as genuine as that of “real” artists.
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Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:45:35 +0000http://wintermediacrit.wordpress.com/?p=1185#comment-90That’s really amazing! And, unlike other young pop stars, she won’t age, and there’s no chance that she’ll say or do anything scandalous or “immoral”. But, I wonder if there’s any real future for these kinds of “stars”, since without human foibles, the tabloids will have nothing to write about them. Then again, without the kind of PR generated by having human failings, their appeal will have to be judged solely on the music associated with them, which would make for an interesting reversal of the “fake pop star” argument. I wonder how long it will be before we see an attempt at something like this in the west?
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